Women's Soccer Faces Pair of Unbeaten Dallas Teams

This Week in Rattlers Soccer
Wednesday, Sept. 16 • UT Dallas (5-0-1, 1-0-1) at St. Mary's (4-1-1, 2-0-0) • 7 p.m. • Sigma Beta Chi Field
Saturday, Sept. 19 • St. Mary's at #3 DBU (5-0-0, 2-0-0) • 1 p.m. • Patriot Soccer Field
 

Week Four: St. Mary's Women's Soccer continues Lone Star Conference play against the two Dallas teams, hosting UT Dallas on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and playing at No. 3 DBU on Saturday afternoon.

A Look Back: St. Mary's won the first two games in Lone Star Conference play, shutting out Texas A&M International 2-0 and winning 3-1 against UT Permian Basin. Freshman Helen Lazaro scored four of the five goals, with a pair of game-winners, while freshman Kamrynn Martinez scored the other.

Player of the Week: Freshman Helen Lazaro earned the team's first Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week award of the year after scoring four of the team's five goals last week, including a hat trick against UT Permian Basin on Saturday. She kicked both game-winning goals, and is now tied for the team lead with five goals through six games.

LSC Openers: The Rattlers are now 5-3 in the first Lone Star Conference game of the season after defeating Texas A&M International 2-0 on Wednesday. Since Kevin Driggs became head coach, the Rattlers are now 5-2 in the first conference game of the year.

Solid 1-2 Punch: St. Mary's is one of two teams in the nation to have a pair of 5+ goal goal-scorers on its team in 2026, joining #19 Montevallo. The Falcons (5-1) have a freshman and senior who have combined for 11 goals, while the Rattlers are the only team in the country to have a pair of freshmen ranked in the top 25 in goals, as both Helen Lazaro and Kamrynn Martinez have scored five times in the first six games.

History with UT Dallas: The Rattlers are 3-1 all-time against UT Dallas, with a perfect 2-0 record at home. The Comets won the first-ever meeting in Lone Star Conference play, winning 3-2 in Richardson a season ago and this will be the first time the two teams have met on Sigma Beta Chi Field.

Scouting the Comets: UT Dallas is 5-0-1 on the season and opened the Lone Star Conference season 1-0-1. The Comets have not surrendered a goal all year, and are outscoring opponents 15-0 in their six games. Gabby Thompson (3) and Jules Chavez (3) are two of the leading scorers in the LSC.

History with DBU: The Patriots are ranked No. 3 in the IWSOC/United Soccer Coaches poll and are 5-0 overall with a 2-0 start to the season. They hold a 27-18-1 lead in the all-time series with DBU and have won 23 straight over StMU. 

Scouting the Patriots: Ashley Washburn leads the Lone Star Conference with six goals and seven assists (19 points), while Riley Olsen is tied for fourth in the league with four goals, and Skyler Belanger and Emma Croley are tied for third with three assists each. DBU was picked to win the Lone Star race. DBU is outscoring its opponents 21-to-2 in five games. 

Hat Trick: For the 25th time in school history a StMU player scored three or more goals in a single game when Helen Lazaro scored a hat trick against UT Permian Basin.

Youth Movement: St. Mary's has scored 14 goals in the first six games of the season and 12 of the nine are by true freshmen, led by Kamrynn Martinez and Helen Lazaro with five. Emilee Durante and Victoria Morales each have one, while junior Anabelle Rodriguez has the other two. 

Eight is Great: The Rattlers are unbeaten in their last eight home matches (6-0-2) at Sigma Beta Chi Field. The team last lost at home on Sept. 24, 2025 against Texas Woman's, going 4-0-1 to end the 2025 home season and are 2-0-1 so far in 2026.

Lucky Number 13: Junior goalkeeper Molly Lyons recorded a career-high 13 saves against Colorado School of Mines, which is the fifth-most saves in a single game in St. Mary's history. Lyons ranks second on the Lone Star Conference and 38th nationally with 6.00 saves per game and is sixth in the league in save percentage at .818. As a team, the Rattlers are second in the LSC with 6.33 saves a contest.

Now Appearing: Both Yuridia Castillo and Alejandra Davis made their collegiate debuts in the win over UT Permian Basin on Saturday. The Rattlers have played 10 freshmen this season, with five starting in all six games (Emilee Durante, Helen Lazaro, Kamrynn Martinez, Nia Mendiola, Victoria Morales).

A Rarity: Freshman Kamrynn Martinez scored a goal in each of the first five games of the season, and becomes the first Rattlers to score in five straight contests. Kristal Williams netted five goals in four games from Sept. 28 through Oct. 11, 2014 as a sophomore. Martinez leads the Lone Star Conference in shots (5.67), shots on goal (2.50) and is tied for second in total goals (5), and all three rank in the top 20 of Division II.

Prognosticators: St. Mary's was voted sixth in the Lone Star Conference Preseason poll by the league's coaches, SIDs and media. The team received one first-place vote and 443 points, narrowly missing out on the top five. Senior Elena Kossler and sophomore Marily Garza Contreras were named offensive and defensive players to watch in the Lone Star, respectively.

The Makeup: Head Coach Kevin Driggs added not only 14 new players to the roster for 2026, but also a new assistant coach in Diego Tapia-Fraites. The Rattlers have 12 athletes returning from last season's club, including 2025 LSC Newcomer and Forward of the Year in Elena Kossler. Kossler was responsible for 32 of the team's 91 points a season ago, while the Rattlers also return points from Marily Garza Contreras (7), Michelle Ramirez (3), Anabelle Rodriguez (3), and Natalya Hendrus (1). Ramirez was named the final LSC Player of the Week in 2025 after scoring the game-winning goal in the regular season finale at Lubbock Christian.

Sister Act: For the first time since the 2012 season, the St. Mary's lineup features a pair of sisters on the team in sophomore Alyssah Martinez and freshman Kamrynn Martinez. Alyssah played in 15 games in 2025 as a true freshman and welcomes her younger sister, Kamrynn to the team for 2026. The last pair of sisters to play for the Gold and Blue were Emilie and Leah Snelson, who played together in 2011 and 2012.

First-Ever: Forward Elena Kossler became the first-ever Rattler to win National Player of the Week honors, when she was awarded by D2CIDA on Oct. 28, 2025. Kossler collected 11 points, tying the school record for goals in a game against Eastern New Mexico and scoring the game-tying goal at UT Tyler. Kossler also earned Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors on Oct. 27.

Making History: Head Coach Kevin Driggs became the third coach in StMU Women's Soccer history to win 50 games in their career with win No. 50 against Oklahoma Christian on October 4, 2025. He is second in school history with his 59 victories, trailing only Corwyn Ritch (2001-19), who won 159 matches in his 18 years.

Small Senior Class: There are only two seniors on the roster for 2026 in forward Elena Kossler and midfielder Michelle Ramirez, and with the new NCAA eligibility rules, Ramirez could return for 2027 if wanted. The team also has six juniors, 15 sophomores and 10 freshmen.